Vauxhall Astra power steering pump

[ferny]

Does anyone know of a good source for them? It's pretty much dead and requires replacement. The £212 (+£120 surcharge) Euro Car Parts want seems a little over the top!

It's the one with this reservoir.

[foldy]

What engine you got mate?
I've got a pump off a 1.4 corsa (x14xe) if your engine is the same it might be right, pretty sure the reservoir is different.

[DavidB]

Yes, what engine - they were all pretty much the same on all engines. Even Saabs use the same.

[ferny]

It's an electric one. The power steering fails a short while after switching the car on and a mechanic told her it was the pump. Done a bit of research this morning so will be checking a few bits over before I'm confident it's that.

[Rich]

Sounds like the pump. Considering the amount of electronics in it the price from ECP isn't bad. And I think the last one I had from them was TRW. Is that an online price or an I've phoned a branch price? The guys I deal with are pretty good price wise if you call them and talk to them.

[Colonelk]

think ones on ebay go from about £20 for a used one

[ferny]

Yeah, it's the online price. What makes you think it's the pump?

I had a play around with the fuses and what not yesterday. All seems to work fine but I gave them a clean anyway. Then I tested the other electrical bits.

Battery has 14v on idle, 12-13v when the power steering is used. Seems low to me. I would expect 14.5v on idle and that the alternator would keep up with the load from the power steering better than it does, but I've not played around with electric power steering before. A load test with the heated winder and lights on drops the voltage to a constant 13v. Again, I'd expect the alternator to maintain a 14.5v.

Next up were the connections to the pump. The middle one shows a voltage which constantly matches the battery, the off-side pin reads lower and is around the 13v mark and the other is the earth. I've read that these two voltages should match.

We also noticed that each time I unplugged the connector and put it back the power steering pump would fire up, but sound higher pitched then eventually would die. It was a constant repeatable result as well. I wonder if the pump has some kind of relief valve which is failing and what can be heard is it building up pressure than shutting down through strain or safety?

I've still not ruled out the alternator being a bit duff in my own head but the plan is to phone a couple of scrap yards, compare prices and any potential warranty and then decide where to get a second-hand one. There's a risk there but it's the only way to trouble-shoot right now without throwing big money at it.

[Colonelk]

TBH they are pretty high current devices and none of my cars (with voltmeters) keep up with voltage demand of bits in the car. Heater blower / heated screen drags it waaaay down.

[ferny]

Slight update, as such, which it isn't...

I was looking at the capacity (.7lt) of the power steering and noticed it specifies a "special" Vauxhall fluid - 90 544 116. Either this means it likes to clean windows with its tongue or it's different to the norm. So I did some digging and found out it's green and thinner than the normal stuff, goes by the name CHF 11S. Adding the wrong type can ker-nadger the pump. So I'm wondering what her dad topped the system up with and whether or not my theory about it struggling with a high pressure are correct. She's asking him what he did and I might try and flush it tomorrow to see if it helps. Gotta buy a litre of it anyway so may as well put the left-over fluid to use. Will probably still replace the pump but I think it's worth a tinker as it could hopefully stop it from happening again.

Thoughts?